


Captain Eo

by GrownUpBabyAlligator



Category: Michael Jackson (Musician)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2020-03-20 10:35:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18990952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrownUpBabyAlligator/pseuds/GrownUpBabyAlligator
Summary: It’s like standing under a tree and letting a leaf fall and trying to catch it.





	1. Chapter 1

I’ve always been doing this, as long as I can remember. And, since my memory is now complete to include several lifetimes, I’m really not sure if there has ever been a time when there wasn’t some version of me, doing this, in some place and time other than the one I just left. It’s not something I choose. It just happens, every time. Those around me realize what I can do, and I like the way it feels to see them light up when they notice. 

I would do anything for this. I have done everything, for this. I’ve been through Hell, I’ve endured emotional tortures that most people couldn’t even dream of. It’s part of the work, I would say. It comes with it.

If I were a King, if I were a God, that would be all I would want. A type of worship, I suppose, but I earn it all the same. When the sea out in front me screams and sways, calls my name, when I see their emotions come up and overwhelm them, flow out of them and lap at my feet all soft and foamy like the surf, I finally feel real and complete. What’s on stage is real. The rest of it is make-believe.


	2. The Gate into the Dark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I reserve the right to be cringe-inducingly corny throughout this entire work because, well— have you seen Captain Eo? 
> 
> I’m really struggling to write this in MJ’s voice and so perhaps this will be re-edited several times to get that right but at the moment I’m mainly trying to get ideas out.

I suppose I could start by telling you about how I found my crew. I already had my ship, by then. It was a small vessel in gold with a sail like a peacocks fan, just my taste as far as appearance goes, and very light and maneuverable. It was a gift from Commander Bogg. I think it was given to me as a joke. I’ve never been very good at flying. Well, honestly flying is the easy part— it’s the taking off and landing that I can’t seem to get the hang of. 

Commander Bogg has sent me to a dark moon, on the edges of the territory I’m familiar with. There is a Duke here, to whom I am supposed to bring a gift. I found his grounds very unwelcoming, once I had managed a landing with only a slight scrape of the landing gear and exited the ship. It’s dark, damp, and cold. My boots crunch in loose rocks like gravel as I approach the wide wooden bridge that leads up to an iron gate. It’s very dark, hard to see, but the iron bars glint in the faint light, and the wetness on the gravel glitters. As I approach, four dogs converge on the gate from four different directions.

The dogs are black, and their coats shine in the dim light. It’s so dark that I can’t see much other than their silhouettes— long legs, stumpy tails and pointy ears and muzzles, but every now and then the light will hit them just right and I can see that they have short, shiny fur and wiry muscle. Their teeth flash as they bark, very bright in the darkness. As if in slow motion, they pull their lips back from those long white teeth as they threaten. 

I’m scared of dogs. Not all dogs, of course. But I know that dogs can bite and do terrible damage. In a past life, my family had a set of dogs not too different from these. They had a job to do. With us they were gentle and affectionate, but with strangers they were fierce and cold. They were there to keep us safe, to reinforce a boundary, to keep away those who might harm us. These dogs, I think, are like those dogs. I remember being able to cuddle those dogs that we had, scratch them behind the ears. These dogs are cold and fierce. I am The Outsider to them. 

For a few minutes I watch them pacing gracefully just inside the gate and I notice more about them. They’re performing, putting on a show. Suddenly an understanding washes over me. The flashing teeth, the prancing feet, the gruff voices projecting and echoing. The muscle rippling as they dance just behind the iron bars. This is their stage. They know what is expected of them, and they’re putting all of their energy into their performance. The light catches one just right, illuminating a scar that runs along the outside edge of her ear. 

“Maybe we have more in common than you realize,” I murmur as I approach.

The gate is not locked or even completely shut, I notice as I get closer. The dogs could easily rush out of the space between the two iron doors, but they don’t. They don’t know who they are or how to behave on this side of the gate — I know because I’ve felt the same way. 

“We’re not so different,” I say aloud. 

The dogs snarl with renewed ferocity of the sound of my voice – A Stranger’s Voice to them.

“I understand,” I murmur as I close the distance to the iron gate.

One of the dogs positions her muzzle right in the opening between the iron doors and snarls, curling her lip. I can count her teeth, and the canines seem obscenely long. For a moment I’m afraid she will rush out of the opening, but she doesn’t .

I can feel the fear coursing through my body, but I push it down and concentrate instead on communicating with these dogs. I’ve always been good with animals. I concentrate on filling my words with my intentions, knowing the dogs can’t understand my words but they may understand the feeling behind them. 

“I’m not here to hurt anybody,” I say softly, and I imagine that the dogs can understand my words. The dogs’ growling and barking grows quieter as if they’re trying to listen, and the dog standing in the opening of the gate relaxes her lips so that they cover her teeth.

“I was sent here to bring a gift,” I say, and the dogs all grow quiet. “I know you have a job to do—“ as these words leave my mouth I see the dogs’ lips begin to curl again.

I reach forward with my hand, inches from the opening in the gate and the silent threat of the dogs’ bared teeth. 

“But you don’t need to do it with violence. You could just accompany me in. I won’t hurt you, or anybody. I promise.”

And with these words I’m at the gate opening, and within reach of the dogs. 

“I know I’m a stranger to you. But if you could see into my heart… ” I pause, trying to visualize, trying to show them. “… You would know I have only love.”

And with that last word, I extend my hand toward the lead dog’s nose. She is completely still. I’m inside the gate, I realize. The dogs could tear me to pieces if they decide to. 

The lead dog lowers her head and sniffs my hand, her dark eyes watching my face intently. She raises her head. And then she nuzzles the top of it underneath my open palm. I stroke her head and her fur is soft and slick under my palm.

“Please show me where to go to find the Duke,” I say to the dog, and as if they all understand perfectly, they fall in on either side of me— two on my right and two on my left. The lead dog places herself to my immediate left, her body almost touching my left leg and her shoulders underneath my left hand as it hangs loosely at my side. As she takes a step forward, I follow with my left hand resting on her withers.

We are in an open brick courtyard, which is deserted. I scan around but I see nothing, no decorations, no signs that anyone ever comes here, and no openings other than the one I just came in. We walk across the wet brick of the courtyard, apparently toward a wall covered with dead vines. As we get closer, I see that the solid wall is an illusion. There is a very narrow passageway that leads through, but it is only visible from a certain angle and if the dogs weren’t guiding me I might never have found it. 

The passageway is so narrow that the dogs can’t accompany at my sides as we walk through. Instead they fall behind me in single file as I walk into the narrow passageway. It’s starting to rain, and my visibility is cut down even more in the shadow of the high brick walls on either side of me.

I can see the end of the passageway, mostly only because there’s slightly more light illuminating the rain as it streams down. The brick of the passageway gives way to rough cobblestone. As I exit the passageway, I hear the clanking of a chain. 

I don’t even have time to take stock of my surroundings upon exiting the passageway, as my entire vision is filled by a strange creature— the elephant in the room. At least, superficially it looks like an elephant. It has a long trunk and huge ears, and it is making the most spectacular noise! I can’t describe the sound: it’s musical, beautiful, otherworldly, intensely sad and profoundly beautiful, and triumphant, and joyous all at once. I don’t just hear all of these emotions in the sound the creature is making, I feel them. It knocks the breath out of me, and I crumple to the ground with tears in my eyes.

And then I realize that the animal has physically knocked the breath out of me as well— she’s come to the end of her chain and has knocked me to the ground and intends to trample me! 

The dogs rush around me in a circle, and for a terrible moment I think I’ve made a fatal mistake— that the dogs and this Elephant-Creature are all going to maul and crush me. But the dogs get between me and the huge creature, driving her back, snapping their teeth and snarling— never making contact with the giant but driving her back all the same. She seems furious at this treatment, and raises her trunk to strike the nearest dog… 

“No! Please! You’ll kill her!” I cry out. 

The huge beast stops, frozen with her trunk raised in the air, poised to strike. In that moment I notice the iron manacles around both of her hind limbs. My eyes quickly follow from the manacles to the chain that is attached to them, to a post in the cobblestone wall. She has no bedding, no resting spot. She has sores on her knees and elbows from sleeping on the hard, wet cobblestone ground. The cobblestones are worn in a deep groove the length of her chain, from her pacing.

“I’m not here to hurt anybody!” I tell her, just as I told the dogs, and she lowers her trunk.

I take a step closer to her and crane my head to look up at her, now close enough that she could lift a heavy foot and stomp me, break every bone in my body if she chose. I’m silent for a moment. 

“Your song is beautiful,” I tell her, “but sad as well.”

She stands completely still looking down at me, and the look in her eyes leaves no doubt of her intelligence.

“I understand what you meant,” I tell her. And I do, now that I can see her loneliness, how she must suffer. 

“I came here with a gift for the Duke, but maybe I can help you while I’m here.”

She starts shifting her weight from foot to foot, rocking slightly, and she looks away from me. 

“I’ll ask. I promise.” I tell her, and the dogs come to my sides again and I continue on ahead, looking back once to see her beginning to pace. She makes a soft sound, and it’s full of fear and hope.


	3. The Duke

We leave the cobblestone courtyard and continue forward in the rain. A huge brick mansion looms into view out of the mist. The dogs bring me up a grand stone staircase and to a huge, heavy-looking wooden door riveted and carved in intricate patterns. The dogs all simultaneously sit at my sides and all of them crane their necks to look up at my face. 

“What now?” I ask the lead dog at my left.

She gazes at me silently for a moment, then she turns her head and with her nose she presses against the door, then looks back at me again. When I stand there confused she lifts a paw and brings it to the door, almost but not quite scratching it.

I chuckle quietly and marvel at the dog’s intelligence. It couldn’t be any more clear that she wants me to knock. 

I do so, and there’s the electronic sound of a cheerful chime from inside the mansion. The door slowly swings open, creaking loudly, but there’s no one behind it. I look down at the lead dog again but she just stares into the doorway. There’s another electronic chime and I look down at my feet to see a short, cylindrical robot. 

Suddenly the robot chirps threateningly. 

“INTRUDER!”

“No!” I start to take a step back.

The lead dog stands up and barks.

“BAD DOGS! NOT ALLOWED IN THE HOUSE! BAD DOGS! SECURITY HAS BEEN BREACHED! YOU HAD ONE JOB!” The robot swivels back and forth and a shrill alarm sounds.

“Hey, now calm down!” I chide the robot.

The electronic chirping alarm stops, the robot momentarily stops its frantic swiveling.

“They did their job, all of them, and they did it well. They’re ferocious guard dogs, really ferocious, just like I’m sure you must be a really exceptional robot.”

The robot is still for a moment before asking in a deadpan electronic voice, “DO YOU REALLY THINK SO?”

I chuckle again. “Well, yeah! I mean that alarm! The scolding! Really. I can tell you care about your job.”

The robot vibrates and spins in a slow circle. Lights twinkle all along it’s sides.

“OH HOW WONDERFUL! 109 YEARS SINCE ANY POSITIVE FEEDBACK HAS BEEN GIVEN! I AM DOING AN EXCEPTIONAL JOB!”

I smile down at the robot. “I’m here to see the Duke. My name is Captain Eo. The dogs escorted me here, I have a gift.”

“OH. HE WILL BE SO PLEASED. PLEASE FOLLOW ME.”

“What about the dogs? Shouldn’t they come in, too?” I turn to pet the lead dog but all four of them are gone.

“NO. THEY MUST RETURN TO WORK.”

I’m startled by their sudden disappearance, and then as I take a step forward to follow the robot the heavy door slams shut behind me, making me jump. It’s very dark in the house now that the door is closed. I can barely see except by the dim lights on the robot’s sides. It leads me down a long carpeted hallway, shadowy fabric billows against the walls— maybe tapestries, but it’s too dark to make out any details. It’s cold in the house. I wonder what sort of person would live in as place like this—so cold and dark?

Finally we approach an archway, and as I step through it into the light, just behind the robot, I hear a gasp and a muted chorus of bells from the other end of the room. The robot continues trundling across the very large room on a very worn-looking carpet. 

“GUEST ARRIVES BEARING GIFT. ANNOUNCING CAPTAIN EO. PERIMETER SECURE. I AM DOING AN EXCEPTIONAL JOB.”

A large, imposing man stands up from an ornate chair— more of a throne actually— at the other end of the room. He is smiling warmly, his arms held out palms up, his shoulders draped with red velvet and sable fur. He is dressed in ornate and kingly clothes, from his thick cape to the intricately embroidered sleeves of his shirt, to the shiny leather boots. His graying beard and mustache are trimmed neatly, his face is middle aged with lines all around his eyes as he smiles. His eyes are blue, and although his face smiles, his eyes look cold. The entire rest of the room is filled with iron cages of various sizes, each with some sort of animal inside. The quiet bell-like chorus is from those animals. I’ve never seen anything like any of them!

I bow deeply as I approach his throne, wishing for nothing more than to look more closely at the strange creatures in their cages. 

“Captain Eo! How generous of you to bring me a gift! I’m Henry, the Duke of Blackrose, and I so seldom get visitors! Please, sit and rest, have a drink, while I prepare some entertainment!”


End file.
